Metallome and metallomics were proposed in 2021 and 2022, and compliments genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Metalloproteomics/metallomics is an emerging scientific area focusing on the molecular mechanisms of metal-dependent life processes and the entirety of metal within a cell or tissue/organ. Due to diversity of metal-protein interactions, it is difficult to identify metal-protein interactions at a proteome-wide scale.
In the past eighteen years, we have developed an integrative approach to identify metal-associated proteins in a complex system1. We also integrated metalloproteomics with metabolomics (NMR/MS), transcriptomics and deep learning to examine multiple cellular changes to the numerous intracellular process affected2. We subsequently use those identified proteins as a new target for drug discovery and development. For example, we have transformed this information for the fight against antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19 successfully3-7. The potential of integrative metalloproteomics in chemical biology and biomedical sciences will be illustrated.
This work was supported by the Research Grants Council (R7070-18, 17308921, 2122-7S04, 17318322), Innovative Technology Fund (ITS/278/20) of Hong Kong, and the University of Hong Kong (URC and Norman & Cecilia Yip Foundation.
1. YT Lai, YY Chang, L Hu, HY Li, HZ Sun et al. PNAS 2015, 112, 2948.
2. M Koohi-Moghadam, HB Wang, YC Wang, XM Yang, H Li, JW Wang, HZ Sun, Nature Mach Intell 2019, 1, 561.
3. RM Wang, TP Lai, P Gao, RY Kao, G Ma, HY Li, HZ Sun et al, Nature Commun 2018, 9, 439.
4. SF Yuan, RM Wang, JF Chan, DY Jin, KY Yuen, Sun HZ et al, Nature Microbiol, 2020, 5, 1439.
5. HZ Sun, Q Zhang, RM Wang, RYT Kao, PL Ho, HY Li et al, Nature Comm 2020, 11, 5263
6. HB Wang, MJ Wang, P Gao, XH Xu, HY Li, AX Yan, RYT Kao, HZ Sun, Nature Comm 2021, 12, 3331.
7. H Li, H Sun. Nat Chem 2022, 14, 6.